Dam for creeks, ditches, etc.



C. C. BRANAMAN DAM FOR CREEKS, DITCHES, ETC

Nov. 30,- 1926. 1,608,835

Filed Dec. 21, 1925 INVENTOR wak 19W kal- Patented Nov". 30, 1926.

E D 5 TA TIES PATENT DAM non cmanxs, .nrrorrns, nro.

Application filed. December 21, 1923. Serial 'No. 682,060.

2 To provide improved means for anno provide dam and floodgate whichwill allow the passage ofilarge quantities of water at flood and preventthe egress of stock at low water.

I attain these objects by the means illust ated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which;-

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a dam and line fence constructed inaccordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is a cross section on the line 2-2of Figure 1; Fig. 3 is a detail showing a cross section of the fence anddam on the line 3-3 of Figure 1; Figure 4. is "a detail showing a topview of one of the an chors; Fig. 5 is an elevation of a woven wirefloodgate from the downstream side and Figure 6' is an edge viewthereof; Figure 7 is an elevation of a fioodgate made of wood en stripsor boards and Figure 8 is an end view thereof.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

My dam may be combined with afence as shown in Figure 1, wherever it islocated on the line of a line fence, 1*, or it may be constructedindependently of the fence and may come to the top of the ground line asin Figure 1 where the ground line is shown by a dotted line, 14, or itmay be located below the top of the ground. level.

When used in a drainage ditch, I prefer to locate the top of the dam afoot or eighteen inches below the top of the ground level so that incase a ditch becomes filled up, a farmer may plow over the ends of thedam without disturbing it.

The body of the dam, 5, is composed preferably of woven wire fencing ofany standard pattern, which may be of galvanized iron or of any othersuitable material. It is desirable, of course, to use material havinggood rust resisting qualities.

In constructing my dam, a cut or trench is ldug across the ditch orcreek to dammed, and carried into the banks at the side thereof as faras desired. The woven wire is then placed in the trench and may besecured to posts in the ordinary manner. The ends of the dam areanchored by in: iiirig a roll. or cylinder at each end thereof shown inFigure 4: and filling the cylinc with rock, ea.. 11 or other suitablematerial.

he trench can then be filled and maimed i the culinary way.

At or sligl'itly above the ground level of the bed,I place an apron, 6,of woven wire,

which issecuredto the dam and extends upstream therefrom. A similarapron, '13, is secured to the dam at about the same level andextendsdownstream therefrom. I prefer to weightthese aprons with rocks,7, as shown in Figure 2, when they are available.

I reinforce the top of the dam with a cable, 10, which is secured to thefence posts and may be anchored by being secured to cylindrical anchorsat each end of the dam or carried beyond the ends of the dam and securedto additional fence posts or other suitable anchorage.

The portion of the dam between the terminal anchors may be fastened tofence posts, if desired, and these posts may be set up at any pointeither between the banks of the ditch or creek or beyond the banks ascircumstances may make desirable. When used to support a fence, theyshould extend the necessary distance above the ground, but when usedonly to support a low dam, they need not extend above the top of thedam.

In order to allow the escape of flood water, I provide a flood gate, 3,which is hinged to the cable, 1.0, and hangs on the downstream side ofthe dam and preferably extends slightly below the top of the lowersection of the wire dam so as to prevent the escape of animals.

This flood gate may be of woven wire as shown in Figure 5, withreinforcing boards at the ends and sides or may be of board strips asshown in Figure 7 and may be light or heavy as the requirements of eachpar ticular case suggest.

From the cable, 10, near the ends of the flood gate, I extend a guywire, 11, upstream to an anchor, 12, which is preferably a rock andshould be buried in the bed of the creek or ditch. Any desired number ofsuch first erected in a trench cut across the creek or ditch to bedammed and the ends anchored as described. The supporting cable at thetop of the dam is secured in place by the anchors and by suitablesupporting posts and secured to the upper edge of the dam. A. flood gateis mounted upon the cable and if desired, the fence is strung alongabove the dam.

When a small quantity of water is flowing down the bed of the stream, itwill pass through the woven wire under the flood gate and the aprons, 6and 13, will prevent cutting under the dam. The woven wire will allowthe water to pass readily at the sides of the creek so as to avoidlateral cutting and the wire itseh' tends to hold the earth and smalldebris so as to prevent cutting.

When an increased quantity of water comes down the stream, the floodgate, 3, will swing upon the hinges, 4;, and open as far as necessaryand will automatically close by gravity when the water is loweredsufficiently.

It is obvious that the size, shape and proportions of the various partsof my dam may be varied to suit the requirements of each particular casewithout departing from the spirit of my invention.

This dam is also so constructed that hogs will not root under it.

I claim:

In a dam, the combination with a section or" woven wire extending acrossthe bed of a watercourse and extending below the bed of the watercourse,of cylindrical anchorages formed integral therewith secured in the soilon opposite sides of the stream and suitably weighted, a reinforcingcable secured to the top of the dam and suitably anchored, an opening inthe upper portion of the dam and a flood gate, the upper edge of whichis horizontally pivoted on the reinforcing cable adjacent the opening,and the lower edge of which is free to swing upwardly and in a downstream direction in case of high water.

In testimony whereof he affixes his signature.

CLINTON G. BRANAMAN.

